Year: 2017

It has been a little while since I’ve featured a W123 so today is as good a day as ever. Today we have a 1979 Mercedes-Benz 300D up for sale in Seattle, Washington. It sports the great color combo of Pastel Blue (with the matching hubcaps) and blue MB-Tex interior. I’m partial to all things W123 (I own one) and I love to see them when they’ve been cared for extensively. Luckily for everyone, this nice W123 looks to be so.

Alright, let’s get back to the value side of the 911 world since my last few features have all been a bit pricey (very pretty though!). This one, a silver 2004 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe, located in New York, with black leather interior and 77,400 miles on it, comes in at a pretty nice asking price even for these usually very budget friendly models. You’re not getting anything special with it – the colors are pretty standard and not the most exciting and it’s just a base Carrera rather than a S or 4S – but you’re still getting a nice dose of performance. There’s certainly enough to grab your attention and make for an exciting drive if you really put your foot down. Oh, and the seller says the IMS bearing has been “done.” That isn’t the most specific phrasing and it was reportedly done by the previous owner so we’re a little vague on the details of what exactly that means, but hopefully some documents and conversation can reveal some of those details and its new owner can breathe a little easier with that potential issue out of the way.

As they had with the first generation, with the E36 BMW continued the tradition of chopping the top off its curb-hopping M3 to alter the character of the model substantially. The resulting “BK” models are the least produced of the second generation. In European form, some 3,800 were produced with a bulk of them heading to England starting in 1996. The U.S. model began production as the model’s run came to a close; in March 1998, the first of what would become 6,269 U.S. spec 3.2 M3 Convertibles rolled off the production lines in Regensburg. That meant the M3 outlasted normal E36 production, as if you walked into a dealer you’d find the all-new E46 model being sold along side these topless M3s. As they came towards the end of production, most of these M3s came as well-equipped as the E36 was available, and options included forged M-Double Spoke wheels and a removable hardtop. Extra bracing went in to stiffen the chassis, which resulted in a 10% weight penalty and slower performance – but I’d wager that wasn’t on most buyer’s minds. Of the just over 6,000 models sold here, the majority – about 60% at 4,017 – were sold with the 5-speed automatic. So today’s example is already in the minority; a last year example, it’s also a 5-speed. But to push it just that little more over the top, it’s also in the rare shade of 386 Fern Green Metallic:

Let’s stick with yesterday’s blue theme and take a look at another of Porsche’s really nice blues. Here we have a Cobalt Blue Metallic 1991 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Coupe, located in Houston, with a light grey and blue interior and 74,452 miles on it. As should be immediately apparent, Cobalt Blue is a very pretty and striking shade of color. It doesn’t jump out at you as much as Minerva Blue does since it’s a darker shade, but though it may be more reserved it none the less shines brightly and exudes plenty of character. On the much more modern lines of the 964 – modern relative to an early 930 – it looks great bringing both elegance and excitement to this 911’s curves. It helps that this one looks in very nice shape!

Audi’s nomenclature took an interesting turn once again in the early 1990s. From the B2’s “4000CS quattro” – the only way the car was available at the end of the run, Audi had introduced the tiered 80/90 quattro for the B2 model range. That culminated in the 90 quattro 20V, but even though the run of the B3 was short in the U.S., by 1991 the model was already 6 years old for the European market. Audi then skipped the 1992 model year for the 90, offering only the holdover 80/80 quattro while it readied the 90’s replacement. That replacement was…the 90. But strangely back again was the S/CS model designation in this “new” chassis, the B4, which was a heavily revised B3 chassis with some new sheetmetal and trim. But the big news was new engines; gone was the NG and 7A, last of a long line of inline-5s that had populated the noses of small Audis since the late 1970s. In its place was the AAH 2.8 liter 12 valve V6. Rated at 172 horsepower and 184 lb.ft of torque, on paper it was the superior motor to the double-overhead cam inline-5 it theoretically replaced. But the power delivery and experience were entirely different. While the peaky 7A encouraged you to explore the upper realm of the rev counter, the AAH wasn’t particularly rewarding at the redline. Where it was superior was in low-end torque and it’s smooth power delivery, and though the cast-iron V6 was no lighter than the inline-5, it’s shorter overall length meant that some (okay, only a bit) of the nose-heaviness that had plagued the B2 and B3 series was forgotten.

But the ‘CS’ quattro moniker only lived a short two years in the U.S. before it, too, was replaced by the last-year oddly-named Audi Sport 90 quattro.…

I write a lot about Mercedes-Benz and their monetary values. The overwhelming majority of the time their values are depreciating or, at best, holding steady. Every once in a blue moon I come across a car which is actually appreciating in value. Today’s featured car is not only appreciating, but is one of the hottest models in the substantial Mercedes-Benz catalog you can buy at the moment. That car is the 190SL. Produced from 1955 to 1963, the 190SL was the baby bother of the now seven-figure 300SL. Although similarly styled, the 190SL was much different mechanically than the 300SL with a carbureted four-cylinder and built on a shorted saloon chassis as opposed to a tubular space-frame like the 300SL. Because of this, 190SL values stayed relatively flat and didn’t have great demand outside of a few particularly outstanding examples. However, now that the 300SL have reached a point where they are so valuable that even putting miles on them is frowned upon by collectors, the baby brother 190SL isn’t so “baby” anymore in terms of value and collectibility. Today’s 190SL for sale in Ohio is right in that sweet spot for a classic car that can be enjoyed.

Minerva is impossible to resist. Among Porsche blues it possesses a combination of brightness and subtlety nearly unmatched for its beauty. It’s a vibrant color, but it’s metallic accents allow it to shine without going the ultra-flashy route of a pastel. In light or dark it just looks great. Others might prefer another of Porsche’s many blues, but for me Minerva is the best.

I’ve featured it quite a few times, both on turbos and standard 911s, but I don’t think I’ve ever featured it on one of the early 3.0-liter 930s. That’s really taking desirable combinations to another level! Here we have a Minerva Blue Metallic 1977 Porsche 930 Turbo Carrera, located in New Jersey, with a matching Blue leather interior and 55,423 miles on it.

I never tire of rare and unique colors. Combine that with a rare and unique vehicle? Even better. This is a 2014 Mercedes-Benz E63 S AMG Estate in the color Dolomite Brown Metallic. Sometimes it looks brown, sometimes it looks purple and even at the right light you might even mistake it for a burnt orange. Either way, I love the color. But I don’t exactly love it on this car. Let me explain why.

I really love how these cars sometimes send you down the rabbit hole. What attracted me initially to this E24 was that it was a European-spec car and it had a pretty high asking price at nearly $23,000. Alone that wouldn’t be enough to warrant a post, especially given that from the first photo I glanced at, it doesn’t look spectacular.

But there’s a lot more than meets the eye when considering this car, and it has a lot more to do with the personality behind it than the current condition.

The name Albert Mardikian probably doesn’t mean much to you. Mr. Mardikian is a partner and the Chief Technology Officer behind ReGreen Organics, a company which deals with a lot of shit, for lack of a better term. I’m not being flippant. They’re an organic solid waste management company.

And it is in this capacity that Mr. Mardikian’s philosophy is particularly interesting when considering this car. He proclaims that he has a “passion for bettering our world”, yet his past would seem to have little to do with environmental improvement. That’s because in a past life Mr. Mardikian was also the proprietor of Trend Imports. Ring a bell? If not, perhaps a perusing of the Tom Cruise movie Rain Man would help you out. Mr. Cruise’s character’s subplot – an importer of exotic cars held up by the EPA – is based upon Mr. Mardikian. Because if you were in L.A. in the early 1980s and you wanted a gray market car, Trend Imports was where you went. And just like the main character in the movie, Mardikian got in quite a bit of trouble for the Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Rolls Royce and other models he imported by skirting EPA emissions laws.

Though his troubles with emissions laws dated back to 1981, Mardikian continued to be the turn-to source for ultra-exotics in the early days of importation.…

Last week I checked out a great SL73 AMG which the mad men at AMG took an already hearty 6.0 liter V12 and converted it to a 7.3 liter. Today we have another 7.3 liter 140 chassis, although this one was converted by another tuning house. This 1997 CL600 for sale in Hamburg, Germany was sent to well-known Brabus where it not only underwent the conversion to 7.3 liters, but gained some body work, wheels and giant brakes as well. Because of all this, the price tag steep. But you probably won’t believe how steep it really is.

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